On the whole, Americans don’t understand the Affordable Care Act (ACA) very well. After the jump, some proof of the confusion, as well as a helpful — and adorable — video tutorial that might help clear some things up.

The Associated Press released a poll Tuesday confirming what other pollsters have found — Americans are utterly confounded when it comes to the ACA. According to the AP survey:

*41% of people don’t think the law will require U.S. citizens to have health insurance or pay a fine. (Actually, the law will do this with what’s known as the “individual mandate.”)

* 41% of people don’t think the law will have the government give money to low-income citizens to help them buy insurance. (This is a central tenet of the new law.)

* 40% believe the law will require Americans to provide a government ID card to get care at hospitals. (This is false.)

* 39% believe committees will review individual medical histories to decide if they can get care paid for by the government. (This is false.)

* 65% believe the law will increase the federal deficit. (It will reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion over 10 years.)

There are lot more interesting survey questions and answers in the full poll results available here.

If you are confused about the new law, you are not alone. In fact, generally, you’re in the majority. But fear not. The Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-partisan non-profit group, just produced a cartoon video that does an amazingly thorough job of explaining what’s wrong the U.S. health care system and how the ACA attempts to solve those problems. The best part — it’s only 9 minutes long! And it’s cute. And it’s narrated by Cokie Roberts. Enjoy!